The Rumbelle Story
by outlawqueenrumbelle
Summary: Basically this is how I think Rumple felt/feels about Belle. All Rumbelle scenes in the Dark Castle told from Rumple's perspective.
1. Chapter 1

Rumple&amp;Belle

So with all the hate for Rumple going on, I thought I would write something

detailing the way I imagine his feelings for Belle developed, and how they

really are. This is their meeting and their story in the dark castle from Rumple's

Point of View.

Chapter 1

Rumple Makes a Deal with Maurice

What a pointless day this has been. Honestly, I didn't think I could come to loathe the trivial problems of other people's lives more, but today has quite clearly corrected me. Society really needs to grasp the concept of the difference between a life or death situation, and a difficult issue that could be resolved with some actual effort. I'm growing extremely tired of mending such pointless situations.

And alas, my day isn't over yet. Just as my thoughts of detest concerning my 'work' are crossing my mind, I'm being summoned yet again. I focus for a moment to decipher where the call is coming from, and realize quickly that this is actually one of the calls I've been waiting for. It was from the king of Avonlea, the land which was now being viciously besieged by the ogres. I had heard of the situation a few weeks ago, and knowing that the land had virtually no hope of survival without magical aid, I had been awaiting the king's summon.

Despite hoping that I would be done catering to the common man's problems for the evening, with a final sigh of annoyance, I transported myself to the outside of the doors of the royal hall of the castle of Avonlea. I heard vague voices from inside the room.

"He could be on his way right now, Papa," the gentle, exotically accented, voice of a young woman said soothingly.

"It's too late, my girl. Too late…" the gruff and despairing voice of the King of Avonlea responded hopelessly. At his obvious depression, I took a selfish moment to amuse myself. I beat on the doors hardly.

"It's him, it has to be him!" I heard the sweet, female voice say excitedly.

"But how could he get past the walls?" The king argued. I heard the rather large king rise from his throne, and multiple pairs of footsteps made their way towards the doors I had so forcefully beat on. And the moment the doors began to open, I transported myself into the king's now vacant throne. I smirked to myself and stared cruelly at all of their backs turned towards the door and away from the throne as they stood in the threshold perplexed at my lack of presence.

I allowed a moment of bewilderment to pass.

"Well, that was a bit of a let down," I finally quipped from the back of the room. About five people suddenly spun around to face me. I raised an eyebrow, momentarily thrilled with my own amusing antics, and let out a shrill laugh.

"You sent me a message," I began. As I began speaking, however, a young, arrogant, albeit handsome looking man, drew his sword and slowly began approaching me, his blade outstretched. I was both amused and irritated by this. Did he really think his sword could even begin to frighten or overcome me? Insignificant fool.

"Something about, 'help, help, we're dying. Can you save us?' Well the answer is… Yes, I can," I continued, rising from the throne. I smacked the man's sword out of my way irritably. I paced around the room menacingly, delighting in the frightened looks I was receiving.

"I can protect your little town…" I trailed off.

And it was only when I uttered the last phrase, and took one intimidating glance around the entire room, that I really noticed the girl, from whom the gentle voice had earlier come. She was clearly royalty as well, as she was outfitted in a pretty, golden dress. Her figure was rather short, considerably shorter than my own, which is saying something. Her waist was pleasantly curved, and small. She had long, chestnut hair, which fell just below her… _intriguing_, chest. Her eyes were piercing and blue, with a definite determination and truth shining in their gaze. Her dark eyebrows were furrowed and seemingly frustrated. Her lips were deep red, and looked to be wonderfully soft.

It was an extremely short moment during which I looked at her, no more than two seconds. But I found her to be overwhelmingly beautiful. I blinked rapidly, hoping to snap out of this sudden fascination. It had been quite a long time since I had thought of a women in this way….

And as I stared at this beautiful girl my entire interest in this matter both changed and increased exponentially. And as frightened as I was by my sudden but actual desire for someone, or anything other than gaining more power for that matter, there was now only one thing I wanted from this King.

I quickly recalled that I had been in the middle of a statement before I had become entranced by the girl's allure.

"For a price." I finished my last thought hastily. It was only just now that asking for a price crossed my mind… Because it was only just now that I knew exactly what I wanted.

"We can promise you gold," the King said proudly, almost as though relieved. I sighed, again failing to understand why people really think gold is all that intriguing to the most powerful creature in all the realms…

"Ah… Well, you see, I _make _gold," I sneered sarcastically, uttering the words slowly, as to make the King feel as stupid as possible. "What I want… Is something a bit more _special…_"

I glanced over at the beautiful girl for a split second.

"My price… Is _her,_" I declared quietly, but very forcefully. The moment the words escaped my lips, a plethora of reactions occurred.

"No," her father, the King, responded immediately. I also saw the arrogant man who had obnoxiously pointed his sword at my throat take a prideful and controlling step in front of the girl. It took me a total of two seconds to deduce that he was probably her fiancee. And I was extremely disturbed with myself for being most discontent at this deduction. I couldn't help noticing, however, that the moment the young man stepped in front of her, she quickly glanced up at him with extreme annoyance, and stepped away from his intruding arm. And I was even more distraught with myself when a heavy sense of relief and amusement came over me at her obvious dislike of the young man. I was not in the habit of desiring someone. Especially not a beautiful woman.

"The young lady is engaged. To me," the young man said, in an annoyingly boastful tone of voice. His words vexed me greatly, but I didn't want to expose my sudden, unwelcome weakness. So, I chuckled with sarcastic amusement.

"I wasn't asking if she was engaged. I'm not looking for… _Love," _I scoffed. But I quickly realized that I probably did need some justification in asking for the beauty as my price. That is, if I didn't want these people to discover I was simply very attracted to her. I realized that I felt embarrassed, and childish, to be desiring such a beautiful person that I knew nothing about. I also was disgusted with my own foolishness, at even entertaining such thoughts of her attractiveness, as though it could potentially matter to _me_. This girl would hate me, for removing her from her family. And even if she grew used to it, it's not as though she would ever look at me as anything more than a selfish, ugly beast. Which is really all that I am anyways.

"I'm looking for a caretaker. For my rather large estate," I continued thoughtfully. I was pleased with my own ingenuity for a moment, and as a reward, indulged myself by looking at the girl again. At this second overview, I realized with even more intensity my revoltingly strong attraction to her. I had honestly even considered the possibility that I had entirely lost interest in sex, that maybe my being the dark one significantly decreased those thoughts. But this woman absolutely destroyed that theory, because I now found myself wanting her in an extremely pleasing but unfamiliar way.

I noticed she was staring at me directly now, and I allowed our eyes to make contact. The blue of her irises entranced me, and I struggled to remain focused on the matter at hand. She was looking at me curiously now, as though trying to analyze me. I took a moment to notice that she was expressing very little fear. Perhaps she knew she had no intention of going with me… or Perhaps she just wasn't afraid.

"It's her… Or no deal," I informed the King. I maintained eye contact with the girl for a brief moment longer, before staring at the King.

"Get out. Leave!" He said, his voice filled with hostility. At his shout, the young man again forcefully pulled the beauty behind his arm. She again looked annoyed, but complied this time.

Although I was filled with an overwhelming fear that I might actually not end up leaving here with the beautiful girl, I forced myself to remain impassive. I raised my hands in surrender.

"As you wish," I agreed, turning slowly on my heels and walking pointedly towards the door. As I began to walk away, I rapidly attempted to distance myself from my sudden intrigue in the girl. I simply would not allow this ridiculous schoolboy crush to get in my way of anything.

"No, wait!" I suddenly heard the gentle, exotic voice of the girl call out to me. A soft smile of relief spread across my face, but just as quickly as it appeared, I banished it.

I turned around again, and watched as she pulled away from the young man again. I flared my nostrils as she lightly stroked his arm. Damn it, what is wrong with me?!

The girl slowly walked towards me, the eyes of her fiancee and father following her. I looked her over once more, desperately hoping to find some flaw that would destroy my growing attraction to and weakness for her. I absolutely detested wanting her. She would bring me nothing but pain, and I knew it, but I couldn't help wanting to take her with me anyways. If not for anything but to admire her physical beauty.

She stood in front of me for a brief moment, and stared at me. Now, a small flicker of fear was detectable in her air of bravery.

"I will go with him," she finally said clearly. I haphazardly attempted to contain my shock and delight, with a pleased sound of agreement.

"No, I forbid it!" the young man shouted. How annoying. The girls aggravation with her suitor was quite evident as she turned around to face him and her father.

"No one decides my fate but me," she silenced both of them. I raised my eyebrows, impressed with her audacity. It was rather amusing to see such large courage coming from such a small creature.

"I will go," she said again, even more compellingly. Her resilience to go with me absolutely baffled me. I quickly reasoned it was because she was unaware that my deals were eternal, and that she would become my prisoner forever, not just for the extent of the war.

"It's forever, dearie," I reminded her, as to make sure she wasn't confused about what she was agreeing to. But my words didn't seem to concern her as much as I'd assumed they would. "My family, my friends… They will all live?" she clarified, arching one perfect eyebrow. I rather appreciated her boldness, and was still greatly charmed by the fact that the greatest daring was being shown by the tiniest person in the room.

"You have my word," I responded to her request, taking a slight bow. I heard a light sigh of relief escape her mouth. I realized that she really was prepared to do anything for her village, and her loved ones. It almost made me want to spare her… But I'm far too selfish a creature for such altruism.

"Then you have mine. I will go, with you, forever," she declared, slightly raising her chin, and an eyebrow again. I grinned with delight.

"Deal!" I cackled, absolutely thrilled with what I was going to get from this deal. I let out another shrill laugh, so that I could make everybody else in the room painfully aware of my pleasure.

"Belle…. Belle, please, you cannot do this," her father called out to her. But all I took away from the statement was the girl's name. Belle… The french word for beauty. How appropriate. If she had managed to completely captivate my, the darkest and most powerful sorcerer anywhere, attention with her physical appearance alone, her beauty must really be unreal.

I returned my focus to the present situation, rather than on the irony of Belle's name. She walked slowly towards her father.

"Belle, please…" he pleaded again. She sighed, and lightly touched his face. "You cannot go with this… Beast." Her father glared pointedly at me, and I realized that he actually intended to insult me with that. So I mockingly placed my hand on my heart and gasped with blatantly sarcastic upset.

"Father… Gaston…" she began (her suitor's name was not nearly as charming as hers), "It's been decided."

I was growing rather tired of these feeble protests, and slowly made my way up behind her. I was intending to be intimidating, but as I grew closer to her body, her scent, rose tinged with something like vanilla, entirely intoxicated me. It took me a moment to regain my focus.

"You know… She's right. The deal, is _struck,"_ I said quietly, but menacingly. Neither Belle, nor her father or Gaston appeared to be able to form any words. So, naturally, I seized an opportunity for mockery.

"Oh! Congratulations on your little war!" I sneered, grinning. I giggled again, before deciding it was time for Belle and I to go. I silenced any feeling of guilt I was experiencing at taking her away from those she loved with allowing one of my hands to lightly grasp one side of her waist, as to pull her away. She shivered at my touch, which I was slightly offended by, although it was expected. Because the way her waist felt in my hand… I don't want to admit.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The First Day

I used magic to transport us back to my castle. I didn't particularly relish an awkward carriage ride with my newly acquired maid.

I forcefully pushed open the doors of my castle and walked through them, Belle following behind me tentatively. I turned around in the threshold, and saw her curiously taking in her new surroundings, looking substantially less unhappy than I expected.

But in the mere few seconds it had taken me to transport Belle and I back to my castle, I had fervently resolved to terminate my interest in her. I decided that it had simply been a moment of weakness, fitting for a male creature. Even though I hadn't ever been stirred that way before. But no matter. Either way, I was done with my fascination, and I intended to treat her merely as my maid, property ascertained from a deal with her father. Plainly business. She was nothing more than a pretty girl who was to be my servant for the rest of forever. And I had no intention of ever allowing her to become something more.

"Where are you taking me?" I heard Belle ask uncertainly from behind me. I had decided to, just as a precaution, temporarily store her in one of my dungeons for a day or so in order to clear my head. There were few things I liked more than being focused entirely on gaining more power, or finding my lost son. But I had begun to entertain thoughts lately that I would never get back to him, and that the only thing I had left in the world was my power.

But I wasn't in the mood to lament over my mistakes.

"Let's call it 'your room'" I replied, smirking, and briefly turning around to glance at her. But before she could respond, I continued my brisk walk down to the dungeons, Belle following closely behind. She seemed to genuinely believe I was kind enough to provide her with a half decent place to live. Naive girl.

We descended stairs down into the area of my castle reserved for prisoners. I opened the door to one of the cells with magic, and gestured inside so that Belle would understand this was to be her room.

"_My room?!_" Belle cried when she saw her 'quarters'. To be perfectly honest, I was quite angry with her for making me feel so weak and vulnerable. Even though she didn't exactly do anything, I still held her responsible for being attractive to me. The worst and most indecent part of me was really just keeping her down here as punishment.

"Well it sounds a lot nicer than dungeon, doesn't it?" I cackled, grinning cruelly. She began to try and respond, but before she could, I lightly shoved her inside the door and slammed it shut so that I wouldn't have to look at her anymore. I heard her screaming after me, but I just ignored her and walked away.

I spent the night spinning. The steady, circular motion of the wheel along with it's constant creak made it wonderfully possible to clear my head. When I was spinning, I could focus only on transforming the straw into gold, with the movement and sound of the wheel to constantly distract me. I didn't have to entertain thoughts of Baelfire, my lost son. I didn't have to think about how I lost him because I was a coward. I didn't have to think about the fact that I was probably never going to find him, and that even if I did, he would want nothing to do with me. I didn't have to think about the fact that I was running out of ideas on how to get to him.

I didn't have to think about Belle, and the way I wanted her while I was striking a deal with her father. I hadn't found a woman attractive in such a long time, since Cora I suppose. But the attraction I experienced to her was nothing like the attraction to Belle. In fact I think I was drawn to Cora merely due to my ability to recognize and identify with a desperate soul. But Belle was just a girl, just a beautiful, royal, girl. She didn't strike me as the spoiled type… But then again, what I took to be audacity could merely have been her inability to not get her way. I very much wondered why she had truly decided to come with me… There must have been a reason other than to spare her village. From all that I've seen, I've come to believe that people never do anything without a selfish motive. This girl was no different, I was sure.

When the barely noticeable rays of sunshine crept through my thick, closed curtains, I decided it was time to let Belle out.

I walked down the stairs and into the dungeons again. But to be entirely honest, I wasn't sure what to say to the girl. "Good morning, dearie, sorry I stole you from your family and fiancee and then threw you in a dungeon… Now, come serve me.", didn't exactly seem like an appropriate wake up call. Then again, I don't know why I care about manners.

So I opened the door to her cell, hoping that the right and seemingly indifferent words would strike me… A small and foolish part of me had been hoping that I had imagined my entire attraction, that I would see her in the light of day and she would be significantly uglier and less enticing… No such luck. When I saw Belle, with her tiny body curled into a tiny ball on top of the pathetic cot shoved into the corner of the small cell, I knew there was nothing I could say to her that would seem right, and that my hopes of destroying my infatuation were utterly impossible.

Luckily for me, I didn't have to be without vocal abilities for long, because she quickly stirred. She yawned quietly, before sitting up and looking over at me. For a moment I was struck with the childish urge to run away. But I quickly realized that this was ridiculous, and that the Dark One hiding from a tiny, insignificant girl was entirely ludicrous.

"Come upstairs," I heard myself say to her softly. I cleared my throat, hoping to explain away why my voice had seemed so timid. But I knew the culprit was just my increasing affection. No, no, no, Rumple, stop this insanity. I turned and walked up the stairs, before I could say anything else stupid.

I sat down at the head of the table in the center of the main hall. I waited the two minutes before Belle slowly emerged from the top of the stairs. My eyes slipped down from her wandering eyes to her absolutely flawless figure… I just wanted to see it-…. I forced myself to terminate that train of thought.

I needed to get her out of my sight before I really lost my mind.

"Go make some tea," I instructed authoritatively. I was relieved that I had finally managed to give a coherent order. She looked confused for a moment, and stared at me.

"You haven't shown me where the kitchen is…" she said tentatively. I gestured to the left of me, where I knew there was a door and a kitchen on the other side.

"I trust you can figure it out yourself," I sneered. She looked at me for another moment, but walked into the kitchen I'd pointed out without argument.

I fixed my eyes on the wooden table in front of me, and tried to focus on the individual strips of wood forming it. I tried to focus on anything other than Belle.

She emerged from the kitchen a few moments later, holding a tray with a tea kettle and a few tea cups.

She walked slowly, hesitantly, still looking all around the room. I decided to give her something to focus on other than all her confusion and fear. Orders.

"You will serve me my meals. And you will clean the Dark Castle," I began, lacing my fingers together in front of my chest.

"I understand," Belle responded gingerly, placing the tray down on the table. She began pouring a cup of tea. I noticed her hand shaking…

"You will dust my collection, and launder my clothing," I continued, watching her still.

"Yes," she agreed, nodding slightly. Her wavy brown hair fell into her eye as she nodded, still pouring my tea. It was beautiful. Ugh, now I needed to keep talking for my own sake as well as hers.

"You will fetch me fresh straw when I'm spinning at the wheel," I added. She looked over at me, and nodded again.

"Got it."

She still looked utterly terrified and uncomfortable, and I felt slightly guilty. I at least wanted her to feel less than horrified while she lived here…

"Oh!" I began, raising my finger into the air. She had finished pouring my cup of tea and picked it up into her small hands.

"And you will skin the children I hunt for their pelts!" I smirked. I was being entirely facetious, but Belle clearly was not aware of that, seeing as my cup of tea plummeted towards the ground and broke.

I grinned.

"That one was a quip… Not serious," I sneered, and I let out a sly cackle. Belle inhaled deeply, and smiled a little bit, seemingly relieved. She knelt down to retrieve the cup. I looked around the table to watch her as she examined it.

"Um… I'm so sorry… But it's, uh, it's chipped," she said weakly. I stared at her for a moment, and I realized she actually thought I would be angered by this.

"You can hardly see it!" Belle offered, taking my staring as affirmative anger with her. I didn't break my gaze, however.

"Well, it's just a cup," I responded nonchalantly. My words obviously relieved her, and she smiled lightly again. I liked to see her smile, I liked it very much.

Belle quickly put the chipped cup back onto the tray and poured me a new cup of tea. I noticed that her hand had stopped shaking. I sat back in my chair and smirked, as I watched her.

She brought me my tea, which I took gratefully, though I offered no thanks.

"Is there anything else you need?" Belle asked after a moment of silence. I realized I had no clue what to do with her now… A few thoughts came immediately to mind, which I quickly banished.

I pondered her question, momentarily panic stricken because I didn't know what to do, but then remembered that I had a job.

"All the wooden surfaces in the castle need dusting… I expect that to be finished by the time I get back in a few days. Everything you'll need is in the kitchen," I said conclusively. Before she could even respond, or ask any questions, I had disappeared in a puff of smoke.


End file.
